“Plus, you were so raw, all of you. And just not afraid of bombing,” Amy Schumer enthuses to Oliver Putnam halfway through the season premiere. “Just really wasting people’s time.” And despite the fact that I groaned to learn that Amy Schumer would feature in the new season, this line made perfect sense with my relationship to Only Murders in the Building. The show is a thorough delight, but so often in its first season hinted at the possibility of going too far and becoming too much. The characters could become charicatures, the bits a little too broad, one fancy guest star too many. I personally wasn’t very impressed with the portrayal of the devoted fans, although I have to admit to enjoying the outcome. That’s also what’s best about the show, though, in that it doesn’t want to cave to standards, it’s not so interested in what other people think is funny, it’s willing to try every joke once. It’s been a while since I’ve felt any show has ever been quite this game to have a good time. (Strange New Worlds is hitting that need pretty hard too.) The success rate, thankfully, has been high, but I had worries about second season sustainability, beyond the characters’ own “murder podcast sophomore season slump.”
The show definitely won out against me this time, although it was sllightly more of a toss up than earllier episodes. First of all, while Amy Schumer as a villain isn’t necessarily a terrible idea, I still have to deal with the Amy Schumer of it all. Plus, there’s now Cara Delevingne, and since I’ve watched her 14 minute house of horrors tour for Architectural Design I can never look her in the face again.
(Particular high/lowlight: the sex pit.)
But there was plenty of great OllieMabel hijinx to assure me that we’re all just here to have fun and solve murders we’ve been framed for. My personal theory? The fans (who were selling those tie-dye sweaters!) did it to generate more content for their favorite podcast. Let the pool begin!
We catch up with the trio as their lives begin taking new shape post-success of the first season and post-third murder. Mabel might have the chance to leave behind all the murder and chaos in her life and become a chic New York artist. Putnam could be optioned by Schumer. Brazzos is getting rebooted and Charlie could be a sexy uncle! All reasons to not continue the podcast, plus the very legitimate one in that they are now persons of interest in the case they are investigating. But once Cinda Canning introduces her murder podcast with them in the spotlight, it’s clear that three will be forced to clear their own names due to the incompetence of the police. A police force which now includes the lovely and lyrical Michael Rapaport, to my, and hopefully everyone’s, delight.
Mabel seems the most at odds with where her life is headed. It seems natural, given her youth, and all she’s experienced, but her story is the most complex and weighted. Her sudden decision to cut her hair and remove herself from her previous life works in name only, but that struggle will be the most interesting to play out. She’s the only who really wants a life outside the building, so does that mean her goal is to move out? While Putnam and Savage are certainly experiencing changes in their fortunes, and that can still have plenty of impact later in life, they don’t seem as fundamentally unhappy as Mabel is, even as genuinely grumpy and lonely as they are. So we’ll see how the show manages to keep finding light in its pitch black comedy.
Notes:
- I hate when characters mysteriously vanish, goodbye season 1 boyfriend.
- Do: like Mabel’s new haircut. Don’t: like it when straightened. And it’s a big week for haircuts, as I’ve also been catching up on Shining Girls.
- The art gallery exterior is also the New Girl Loft and since I recognized it immediately I will also now be distracted every time I see it.
- HIS DAD?!?
- #bloodymabel is the girl I love, now ain’t that too damn bad